The Definition of Insanity
by TheDarkKnight1991
Summary: "Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity? Insanity is. . . doing the exact same thing, over and over again, expecting shit to change." Annabeth can't afford to believe in madness. Otherwise, she will have to accept the fact that. . . her life is the very definition of insanity. I do not own anything, 'cept the plot and any OC's (if any).
1. Let The Games Begin

**(A/N) Welcome back, everyone, and here is my second story! This story is based on a quote by Vaas, a video game character from the game **_**Far Cry 3 **_**by Ubisoft Entertainment. I hope that the plot is original enough for you guys, so please enjoy! And let me tell you now itself that this is not your typical Percabeth. It will be very dark and depressing, no happy ending here (maybe :D). But you can hope, can't you my dear reader? And please remember this- more reviews = faster updates! I really wanna know your thoughts on this one, please! (A/N)**

**Disclaimer: Nothing 'cept the plot belongs to me. The definition of insanity in the upcoming chapters belongs to Ubisoft Entertainment.**

Annabeth shifted uncomfortably in her sleep; her skin was clammy and her forehead was beaded with sweat. She shifted from side to side and unconsciously threw off her covers; deep in the realm of Morpheus. . .

~oOo~

_London, England, 1857_

_The ballroom was large and magnificent. Velvet drapes hung on the walls and tinkling chandeliers hung precariously overhead, their crystals reflecting the glow of the dim lighting. The soft carpeting was soothing to the feet; the guest's shoes sank into the soft material. Poker faced waiters in starched white jackets wove swiftly through the crowd, serving drinks and platters of mouth-watering food. All of the guests were either chatting quietly in groups or sitting at the tables and scarfing down plates of food. The gentlemen were resplendent in their black suits with coat-tails and top hats and the women glowed in their dazzling gowns. Smoke curled off in waves from pipes and cigars, clouding the room and muffling any sounds produced in the room. All in all, it was yet another pathetic attempt at recalling England's former power and might._

_Annabeth was muttering mutinously to herself in a shadowy corner. She had been forcefully dressed up by her servants and bundled into a carriage headed for the party. Her mother, a sweet old woman with stormy grey eyes had insisted on her daughter's attendance. 'Think of our honour, dear. We do have a reputation to uphold, don't we?' She had smiled at her daughter while saying the words but her eyes warned that she would not take no for an answer. Her daughter could not be more bothered about her family's reputation. All she wanted was to roam free in the lands surrounding their mansion, fishing, playing, running and even hunting with her father's old rifle. Her mother was- to say the least- disappointed in her._

_While she sat bored at the table, cloaked in darkness, she thought of the local fisherman's son. Percival- or Percy as he insisted- had been her playmate since they were toddlers. After Annabeth's father died when she was young, she often sneaked out of the mansion and explored the village at the bottom of her hill. One day, in a dusty old lane, she had found Percy playing with a few friends, all of whom were clad in rags and little else. She identified Percy as their little ringleader and had been fascinated to see another child her age. Her mother had strictly forbidden her to play with anyone else except for her cousins, but that did not stop her when she walked up to him and greeted him. 'Good day, my friend! How do you fare today? Please may I play with you and your friends!' she had pleaded. Percy and his friends had been startled to hear her voice, and when they turned around and saw her, a wary light glinted in their eyes. 'Now who be you, miss?' One of them had said. A couple of them shook their heads in warning and had slowly edged away, a disgusted look in their eyes. Annabeth had been puzzled to see them react to her in such a way and had asked them, 'What is the matter, everyone? Can we not play together?' _

_At these words, everybody except for Percy had run away, their bare feet shaking up clods of mud and dust. Percy calmly walked over to Annabeth and stuck out his hand the way he had seen noble gents do when they greeted one another. 'I'm Percival, Miss. And what is your name, if I may make so bold to say so?' He had had a grave expression on his face and had stood up stiffly, the way his mother had cautioned him to behave in front of the nobility._

_Annabeth chuckled, grabbed his hand and started pumping it up and down, eliciting a yell from the surprised boy. 'I'm Annabeth, Percival, and you don't need to act like one of those stuck up old grown- ups at home. I see enough of them every day. Can we please play together?' at these words, Percy's face lit up and he nodded eagerly. This proved that not all of them were all posh and stuck up. Percy said, 'Yeah sure, mate, we can play together! And you can call me Percy, I hate my full name.'_

_Annabeth smiled and they ran off together, playing hide and seek in the corn fields and going for fishing afterwards. It had been the start of an enduring friendship, one that had often suffered attempts at destruction at the hands of their parents. For once, both sides had been in agreement that their children should not be involved with each other. It had the potential for great scandal, one that they could not afford. Percy and Annabeth were forced to take to discreet methods of meeting each other. They were still the very best of friends, of course. They had promised each other that they would remain so for the rest of their lives, no matter the circumstances._

_But lately, Annabeth had started wanting. . . more from their friendship. She had started giggling at his compliments, blushing when he grabbed her hands ran for the fields, and had felt sharp stabs of pain when girls from the village flirted with Percy. He was really good-looking, nobody could deny that. He was tanned and muscular from working in the fields all day, and his sea green eyes sparkled playfully at everyone. Annabeth knew all this, but had still felt awful at knowing that practically all the girls in the village fancied him. She knew in her heart that she could never scale the divide between them in terms of social status. Annabeth felt painfully aware of the fact that the girls had far more in common with Percy than she ever could, and this always prickled at the back of her mind._

_Annabeth leaned back in her chair sighing. Percy was so different from all the other men she knew. There was Percy; solid, dependable, good-looking, reliable, down-to-earth; and then there were her suitors, pale, wan, sickly looking creatures who had delicate, feminine airs about them. She had been horrified to learn that her mother had wanted to marry her off at seventeen, but then that was the custom of the day and age. When she had told Percy about them, he had chuckled and playfully ruffled her hair, joking about how they would run off when learned about her true self. And this was something she took to heart as a good way to discourage suitors: Whenver she was alone with them, she would freely use the local slang, prop up her feet on the table and generally behave very crudely as they put it. Annbateh rejoiced whenever another suitor withdrew his petition, and enjoyed watching the puzzled look on her mother's face while reading their letters giving various reasons for their actions. And yet she felt irritated, annoyed at the fact that Percy was not jealous in the slightest of her suitors. Once or twice she had thought she felt a spark of annoyance in his eyes when she discussed her marriage, but she had quickly dismissed them as tricks of the light._

_But maybe she hadn't dismissed them. Maybe, just maybe, she had allowed herself to hope against hope, to dream against reality, to wish for something that could never happen. She sighed once again and tried to get up. She frowned when she saw someone blocking her way. She couldn't make out the person's features in the shadows and through her veil, so she impatiently demanded, 'Who are you? Kindly let me pass, I am feeling rather stuffy, I would be most obliged if you would move your person out of the way. She scowled when the person did not move away and instead motioned for to sit down once again. Annabeth huffed, but she sat down, just in case it was in important message. With her luck, she would be labelled a brat and a troublemaker along with her other titles._

_She put on her most haughty expression and said, 'Yes? What is this most important of things you wish to tell me?' She sensed that the man was smiling, and made to stand up, annoyed that he had taken her so lightly, but he replied, 'Really, Annie? I thought I could converse with you without having you run away!' The man shifted in the darkness and stood in a small beam of light cutting into the gloom. Annabeth raised an eyebrow. 'Luke? What is it now?' she said. She mentally groaned, not wanting to talk to him. _

_Luke was a handsome man. He had blonde hair pulled into a pony-tail , blue eyes and was muscular from long hours of fencing and hunting in the woods of England. But Annabeth thought that he was just like her other suitors: attractive, but in a pale, washed-out kind of way. He did not appeal to her in the slightest._

_But he was also the most determined of them all; and persisted in his efforts no matter how many times he was spurned. Because of the way civil, polite way in which he treated her she just managed to tolerate him. But she knew in her gut that he had an inherent darkness about him. Something was always. . . off. Percy had always told her how Luke could be seen making discreet deals with well-known thugs in the village. At first she had scoffed at his claims, but seeing him now in the darkness, his face half-hidden, she could imagine a cruel glint in his eyes, and a certain unnerving quality on his smile._

_Luke started to say,'Annabeth, I just wanted to tell you-' She cut in before he could continue, 'Spare me the pain, Luke. I don't want anything to do with you. Good day.' She managed the barest of curtsies and stalked off, muttering under her breath. She missed the amused smile playing on Luke's lips, and the cruel light shining in his eyes._

~oOo~

Annabeth sat up on her bed, gasping and panting. She blinked sweat out of her eyes and fell of the bed. She sat up, groaning, and sat on her bed in a meditative posture.

For the past few weeks, she had had the exact same dream, but the weird thing was that they always occurred in different places and times. Colonial America, Medieaval India, Feudal Japan: All of them, with her being a rich, sheltered girl, attracted to a man called Percy and having the exact same incidents repeat themselves , over and over again. Even Luke. She shuddered at the thought, recalling the cold expression on his face. She was destined to fall in love with Percy across time, across the ages and have her heart broken again and again. Because no matter where the dreams took place, no matter what setting, they always ended with the same result.

_Death._

**(A/N) So, how was it? I hope y'all enjoyed reading that! And remember, more reviews=faster updates! Chill, mes harmanos! And please review! P.S- If there are any Far Cry 3 players reading this, let me know via either the reviews or a PM whether I should include Vaas as a character in this story. A recurring character in Annabeth's dreams, like maybe Luke's right hand man or something. Cheers!(A/N)**


	2. Many Lives, Many Masters

**(A/N) Sorry for the long absence, guys, but I won't even bother with excuses. I was just too lazy to write! (Also, I DO have school work, ya know) So anyways, I am only gonna update once I hit some 5-10 reviews, please lemme know what you think of this chapter! I don't want to be one of those writers, but I don't want to write for nothing. All of you fellow writers know how much reviews mean to you, right? Could you help out a fellow author in return? Thanks! (A/N)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'cept the plot. The book 'Many Lives, Many Masters' belongs to the author of the book. Who is not me, in case you were wondering. **

Annabeth slowly walked to school, her sneakers crunching on the autumn leaves. She hiked up her jacket and stuffed her hands in her jeans to keep out the biting wind. Sleepy pedestrians walked past her on their way to their offices. They looked like ghosts walking the earth, wafting through the morning mist.

She let her mind wander back to her dreams. Should she tell Percy about her series of dreams or keep them to herself? She was afraid of what he would say, she was scared that she would be laughed at and abandoned by one of her only friends. But it was getting harder to ignore the dreams. For the past few months she had been tortured in her sleep. It was almost as if the dreams were real, as if they were from her past lives, from ages long lost. Haunting her sleep. Or were they nightmares? Or were they some kind of cryptic warning of things yet to happen? A. . . prophecy of sorts.

Ever since they had started, she had tried researching them online. She was resourceful that way, or weird, as Thalia often remarked. The results had certainly been interesting. She had come across a book called 'Many lives, Many Masters' by a certain . Apparently, the author used hypnosis to unearth his patients' past lives to cure their fears and help them understand themselves better. One patient had had a fear of swallowing pills and a fear of water, both of which turned out to have roots in her past lives. Annabeth's first impulse had been to laugh off the description of the book and turn her search elsewhere, but the events described in the book so curiously mirrored her own experiences that she ordered the book off of Amazon and read it cover to cover at night when her parents were asleep.

She had been simultaneously thrilled, amazed, excited and horrified at what she read. Annabeth witnessed people's past lives, their secret fears and hopes and dreams. Their experiences were startlingly similar and yet so different to what she had gone through. On one hand, the patients had varied and dissimilar lives across the ages. They had met different people, visited different eras and generally had diverse experiences. Occasionally, they had come across the same person throughout the ages, but those people were rare. On the other hand, Annabeth had the exact same experience every single time. The only thing separating the dreams were the settings. Victorian London? Colonial America? She had been to them all.

Suddenly, she felt herself collide with someone and fell down, sprawling on the rough gravel. She looked up to see a sheepish Luke offering his hand to her. Roused from her reverie, she regarded him coldly, painfully aware of the role he played in her dreams. She accepted the fact that her dreams had been real at some point of time, and chose to take them seriously.

She waved aside his hand and stood up. Luke withdrew his hand, noticeably embarrassed. He said, 'Um, I'm sorry, Annie. Are you hurt? Should I get you a band aid or something? I can take you to the nurse's office at school if you want.' Annabeth replied civilly, 'No thanks, Luke, I can take care of myself. I'll see you at school.' She brushed the dust off her jeans and jogged the rest of the way to school.

Luke watched her run to school, his sheepish smile now replaced by a cold sneer. 'You will be mine, _Annie_. You can bet on it.' He slowly started walking to school, whistling cheerfully.

~oOo~

Percy walked as quickly as he could to his class. He was five minutes late, and Miss Kerr did not take kindly to latecomers. Groups of people stared as he walked past, casually waving and saying helloes. A few girls leaned against the blue lockers and smiled flirtatiously, hoping to catch his gaze. A couple of silent juniors skulked in the shadows by the lockers, their gazes piercing through the gloom and the dim lighting.

He carefully avoided their gazes and stepped into his home room._ What's up with them? They've been quitter than usual after I beat 'em up.I wonder what they are planning now, especially that first-class creep, Vaas._

Vaas was an exchange student from some school in the Caribbean Isles. Even the teachers sensed that something was definitely _wrong_ with the kid ever since he had arrived. It was partly due to his odd appearance. Every day since school had started he had worn the same look and outfit: his black hair was cut in a flat Mohawk, he wore a red vest and light brown trousers along with brown combat boots. Several beaded string necklaces dangled from his neck and he sported a leather wrist wrap.

He had this unhinged look in his brown eyes, as though he knew he was insane and thoroughly enjoyed it. Creepy was the least offensive term that could be used to describe him. He was simply menacing.

Oddly enough he had hit it off with Luke on his first day itself. Everyone gossiped excitedly as they saw the school's weirdest weirdo hang out with the biggest bully out there. Percy suspected that they had a lot more in common with each other than it would seem. In just a week they had managed to assemble a gang that terrorized people for the heck of it. Even the teachers pretended not to notice the kids being strong armed for their lunch money and all the newbies who's heads were being dunked in the toilets despite frequent complaints. Percy observed that the kids who squealed to the authorities were often absent from school for weeks due to "critical injuries". It was certainly no coincidence that only these kids suffered from mysterious injuries. All of them had been bullied, and all of them had ratted out the gang. Nobody else suffered anything of the sort.

Of course the parents had approached the principal, but even he had been powerless to do anything. The school's gossip vine circulated rumours that Vaas had some kind of pull with the principal. Rumours abounded that his parents used blackmail to ensure that the principal did not punish the perpetrators. Percy was not inclined to believe these theories, but nothing else could plausibly explain why the principal practically ignored Vaas's existence. The only time he had acknowledged him was when he introduced Vass to the school during a general assembly. Ever since then he had turned a blind eye to all of his activities.

Percy had helped out whenever he spotted someone being bullied. Nobody else seemed inclined to help, but then again they were not black belts in several martial arts. He had been practising Karate, Judo, and Taekwondo simultaneously since the age of six. Sally Jackson had learned the hard way that New York could be a tough place to fend for oneself and did not intend for Percy to go through what she had experienced. As a result Percy was now pretty much an expert in the arts at the age of sixteen and a half. Rather conspicuously none of the gang had tried picking on him after four of them had to be hospitalized for broken bones and critical injuries. The principal had actually quietly congratulated Percy after putting on a show of scolding him and calling his parents.

Percy had always been popular, but thrashing the gang had sent his popularity sky-rocketing . He had studied Newton's Laws, and one of them applied perfectly to his situation. _Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. _While the school generally treated him like a hero, the gang had become increasingly vicious against Percy. They knew that physically they stood no chance and had resorted to verbal put downs and taunts. Percy calmly took it all in stride and humiliated them badly whenever they tried taunting him. He had the whole school on his side, and the whole building echoed with laughter at his jokes at the gangs' expense.

After repeated humiliations they had retreated into the shadows. Percy knew they were planning something big and had requested his friends to try and spy on them and see what was up with them. Today after school he had planned to meet his friends at his place. They would try and infiltrate the gang and observe their plans. Then they would then try and sabotage their plans and try and bring down the gang once and for all.

Percy chuckled as he thought of how it sounded like the lame plot of some generic Hollywood spy movie. It may have sounded stupid but the general well-being of the pupils of Goode depended on the success of their plans. They would do whatever it took, no matter how clichéd or melodramatic it seemed. All they needed was a workable plan of action.

Percy tiptoed into class and managed to sit on his seat while Miss Kerr's back was turned. She raised an eyebrow when she saw him seated but did not question him further. Percy sighed in relief, dismissing the nagging suspicion in the back of his mind that something was wrong.

**(A/N) Sooo, how did you all like the update? Is it good? Fun? Maybe I need to improve something? Please let me know and I shall try and incorporate your suggestions! And hey Kerowyn, thanks for pointing out my flaws, I shall certainly try and improve more! And now I'll probably update by Saturday (Indian Time) or Sunday, I have a lot of work to catch up on and won't be able to write tomorrow. Cheers! (A/N)**


	3. War Is Simple- Kill or be Killed

**(A/N) So, yet another chapter! I know I said that I wouldn't update till I got 5-10 reviews, but then I was like, 'Aww, to heck with it, I like writing and uploading chapters anyways,' so here is the result. And thanks to Kerowyn6 for the reviews and pointing out my mistakes, your feedback has really helped! P.S The "simplicity of war" quote belongs to the makers of Call of Duty MW3 (A/N)**

Percy slowly walked home, sunshine pouring on his back and weighing him down. He was tired after a long day of studying and swimming practice. Coach Hedge had told him that if he kept his performance consistent he would replace the current captain next year when he would graduate and go for further studies at NYU. Percy thought of how happy he would be as captain but was also a little sad that the current captain, Tyson, was moving on to college.

As he walked into his apartment he smelled the mouth-watering aroma of pancakes cooking in the kitchen. 'I'm home!' he yelled and promptly flopped on to the couch and tossed his backpack on the floor. His mother, Sally, walked into the room and smiled at her son. She was in her late thirties but still looked beautiful. She had grey streaks in her brown hair and smile crinkles around her eyes. Percy never wished for a better mother. She always put up with his stubbornness and sloppiness. She never complained about his hygiene and never nagged him about anything. Even though he wasn't scolded often Percy tried to stay disciplined for her sake. He always tried to improve himself and not further stress out his mother.

Five years ago, out of desperation, Sally Jackson married a human walrus known as Gabe Ugliano, who then proceeded to make their lives hell. Every day he would invite his obese, drunk friends over for poker games and everyday he would bully Percy and make him wish he was never born. Finally, after a year or so, Gabe disappeared off of the face of the earth. There were rumours that the mafia had ordered a hit on him as he was unable to pay off a few debts. Percy and his mother didn't really care; they were glad that he was out of their lives.

And then came Paul. Kind, caring, handsome, brilliant Paul. He was like a father to Percy and a husband to Sally. They had dated for a while before they had married each other a few months ago. Percy and Sally could finally close the door on Gabe, that chapter of their lives was over; they only had peace and comfort to look forward to now.

Sally placed her hands on her hips and said, 'Now, do you have any work to do, Perce? I don't want you skipping homework and earning another week's worth of detention. Again.' Percy grinned sheepishly and shrugged. 'Yeah, I suppose I have a little work, but I promise I'll do it with the gang.' Sally raised an eyebrow, prompting Percy to explain, 'We thought it'd be great if we all worked together and finished our projects. Please?' Sally frowned, 'You should have told me before school. And I'm worried that you won't get any work done and will spend your time goofing around on that new Xbox thing that Paul bought for you.' Percy dramatically got down on his knees and placed a hand over his heart. 'Strike me dead, Hades, if my schoolwork isn't done before nine this evening.'

Sally chuckled, 'You don't have to bring in those dusty old Greek gods into this, you know. If they were real I have no doubt that you'd be lying dead on the floor.' She bit her lip thoughtfully before replying, 'Okay, Percy, you get to invite the gang.' Just as Percy let out a whoop she continued, 'But only this once. I don't like the fact that you didn't inform me about this beforehand, young man.' She said sternly. Percy looked up at her, smiling. He spotted the mocking twinkle in his mother's eyes and hugged her tightly. 'Thanks, mom. I won't let you down!'

He ran upstairs and locked the door before Sally realized that he hadn't promised that he wouldn't use the Xbox.

~oOo~

The door-bell rang loudly and Percy ran down the steps two at a time to answer the door. His mother was napping in her room and Paul had gone out to give a lecture in a local college.

He opened the door and smiled broadly, his green eyes twinkling. 'Thalia! Nico! Grover! How are ya guys? Hey Annabeth, glad you could make it! What's going on, you guys?' He nodded towards Jason and his friends.

As the others walked in, shuffling and giggling quietly, he nudged Annabeth and dragged her to a corner. 'Hey, Annie, I have something to tell you. Something me, Grover, Jason, and Frank cooked up. With a dash of toilet humour from Leo, of course.' He pointed towards Leo, who was trying to do a hand stand and was revealing his pink and red Super McShizzle underwear. Annabeth giggled and blushed a faint shade of red as Percy walked on completely oblivious.

~oOo~

They sat down in a loose circle on the carpet in Percy's room. Leo glanced around appreciatively, taking in the video game and rock band posters on the light blue walls. Jason stared at a small collection of G.I Joe action figures Percy had kept on his dressing table, along with a bunch of other board games and stuff. Hazel and Piper examined the pink and red curtains and the soft green bed-sheets, nodding at Percy's mother's good taste in décor. Frank practically drooled at the sight of the brand new Xbox sitting in front of the HD television. And everyone was awed at the sight of a whole shelf of awards and trophies that Percy had won in various swimming championships.

Percy cleared his throat and looked around at everybody. 'So, guys, at the risk of sounding lame, we've come here for a reason, haven't we. Grover, could you please tell the girls about our plan.'

Grover stood up and nodded at Percy. He was rather short for his age, with curly brown hair and soft brown eyes. He walked with a slight limp in both legs as he had a disease in his leg muscles that prevented him from walking normally. He had propped up his crutches next to the door.

He said, 'So, today we are here to discuss our plan to take down Luke and Vaas's gang. We'll stomp 'em out once and for all. Their bullying has got to stop. And we can't involve the teachers. If the principal himself is powerless against Vaas then we can't count on anybody 'cept for ourselves. Are you guys in or do you want to back out? If you want to, that's totally understandable. There'll be a lot of risk in pulling it off, and we might get into a heck of a lot of trouble.' His gaze lingered on Annabeth. Her face had paled and she was trembling slightly at the mention of Luke's name. He felt worried that she would rat them out to the teachers. _Come on, Grover. Get a grip on yourself. Annie won't rat us out. She's our best friend, right? _Looking at her sickly face he wasn't so sure anymore.

Percy noticed Annabeth's discomfiture and wrapped a protective arm around her. 'Don't worry, Annie. You won't get in trouble. We'll protect you from Luke and his lame sidekick. Cheer up!' Annabeth took a shake breath and smiled a watery smile. 'Thanks, Perce, that really means a lot to me. But don't worry, I'll try and protect _you_ from Luke, too.' Everybody laughed at Percy's gobsmacked expression.

'Alright, guys, let's get down to business. And Annabeth, I'm not so sure that Vaas is Luke's sidekick anymore. He looks like he's in charge now. Luke seems rather worried, and while that may be good news for us, it might mean that Vaas has something extreme in the works, and that doesn't sound too good for us, does it?' Jason said.

Frank nodded, 'Yeah, maybe Vaas is trying to get to us right now. He knows we're planning to take him on, and he could be planning a counter attack right now.' Leo raised a hand as though he was still in class and asked Frank, 'But how the heck does Vaas know that? I thought this stuff was all secret, like classified government stuff.' Thalia and Nico had been silent till now, sitting in a shadowy corner and silently observing the proceedings. Thalia intervened before Piper could speak, 'Well, you guys weren't so discreet about planning this whole thing, were you? I think the whole cafeteria heard you guys talk loudly. No wonder Vaas knows about your plans.' Percy and the others hung their heads in mock shame. 'Well, it's too late to do anything now, right? I say that we should go ahead with our plans and go out in style!' Leo flexed his non-existent muscles and grinned broadly.

'Cut the crap, Leo,' Nico snapped, 'You've seen what Vaas and his gang do to other kids, haven't you? Do you want to end up with your head in a toilet?' Everybody stared at him in surprise. Nico rarely snapped. He mostly stayed on the sidelines and spoke quietly, if ever. 'There are perks of being a wallflower' he would say if asked why he stayed so silent.

Nico blushed faintly when he realised that everybody was staring at him. He wished he could melt into the ground and fade away. Jason broke the silence, 'You know what? Nico's got a fair point. We've gotta be serious about this. Who knows what Vaas could be planning out there right now. C'mon Grover, explain the plan to the girls.' Grover cleared his throat before speaking, 'As I was saying, here is the foundation of our plan, the basics: divide and conquer. As we know, there are about ten kids in the gang, including Vaas and Luke. Suprisingly, a few girls have joined up too. It seems as though everyone wants to join 'em if they can't beat 'em. Everyday new kids are joining up, so we need to move fast if we want to stay ahead.' Hazel raised her hand to ask a question, 'I get the divide bit, it means taking them down one by one right? But how exactly are we going about the conquer business?'

Percy broke in, smiling evilly, 'We humiliate them. We dishonour them. We bring them down so low that they are not gonna be rising up any time soon. We need to fight fire with fire, and that's how we're gonna roll. But at the same time we need to try and convince the new recruits to step down. Those guys are innocent people who joined up to stay out of the way of the bullies. They were desperate, so they joined up. And maybe we might get them on our side.' Everybody nodded appreciatively. However, Annabeth said, 'But, um, do they really deserve that? I mean, if we go ahead with this, we'll sink down to their level. We will be the bullies, and with our luck everyone will gang up on us.'

Percy said firmly, 'Yes, we do. You say that maybe they don't deserve that, but you don't know what they're capable of. They beat up a couple of guys and tossed them onto the streets for fun. They nearly got run over by passing traffic. They had to stumble home and quietly patch themselves up. If their parents had gotten involved, Vaas's dad would have calmly pulled a few strings and turned the tables on 'em. Trust me, you wouldn't want that.'

Annabeth said furiously, 'Is that what you want to do? Trust me when I say this, guys, once we get down and get dirty at their level? We'll never be able to get back up again.' Percy's smile dropped off his face as he argued, 'But Annabeth, if we don't teach them a lesson they won't forget, they're gonna bounce back up again. And who knows what'll happen to us once Vaas is back on his feet? He will _not _sit down quietly and take it as it comes. He _will _come for us. You sure you want that?'

Frank looked up with a grave expression on his face. He had been carefully listening in on their conversation and had tried to come up with a solution. This was his home turf after all. His father, James, was a decorated U.S Marine and had served in several countries. He was brutal and ruthless on the battlefield, earning him the nickname of "Ares", the Greek God of War. On the other hand, he was kind and gentle with his family and friends at home. War brought out the worst in everybody.

He had often coached Frank on the basics of warfare, in the hope that his son would take after him and join the U.S Army. Frank had no intention of disappointing his father.

'Not to sound too melodramatic, Annabeth, but this is war. We need to strike hard and strike fast. And to win? Well, my father always says that there is a simplicity to war. Dare- and the world yields. That's all there is to it. And that's all we'll ever need.' Everyone stared at Frank. He started feeling self-conscious and blushed. Leo said, 'Wow, that was cool, dude. Unless you're just quoting that new Call of Duty videogame.' He cheekily held up the game disc lying beside the Xbox. Frank's eyes widened, embarrassed at being caught out. Jason chuckled, and Percy smiled as he said, 'Okay, dude, that's enough. Frank, you rock, man. And while it's not easy admitting that we need a video games' help in making a plan, Frank is right. We need to dare to make Vaas yield. In fact, we need a Dare to win. You guys thinking what I'm thinking?'

Suddenly, Annabeth looked furious. Piper quietly mumbled, 'Aww, are we jealous, Annabeth?' Annabeth angrily shushed her before tuning back into the conversation.

'. . . and she can help us infiltrate the gang, nobody will suspect her 'cause she doesn't hang out with us anyways. Plus, this will guarantee some alone time for Percy and Rachel, won't it?' Hazel nudged him, grinning. Percy hung his head sheepishly. He said, 'So, it's decided, right? We'll ask Rachel to help us and she'll infiltrate the gang. She'll collect information on their plans and tell us what their next move is. That's all for now.'

Annabeth broke in angrily, 'Why do we need that arrogant, stuck-up little thing in our plans? What if she won't accept? What is she rats us out to them? What if she is caught? Why can't any of us go instead?' She stopped, breathing heavily.

Finally, Jason chuckled, 'Annabeth, we know you are jealous-'-Annabeth mumbled furiously while Percy blushed a bright shade of red- 'but let me tell you a few things. She is sympathetic to our cause. She hates Vaas like we do. Plus, she's cunning and very clever. And she is very loyal to her friends, too, she will _not_ rat us out. She could be very useful to us. Trust me, we can't make any further plans without information, and Rachel can get that for us. If anyone else goes Vaas will be instantly suspicious and we'll be in for a free ride to hell. C'mon, you know this already, no wonder we call you Wise Girl.'

Annabeth looked faintly please at these words, but started arguing about the ethics of the whole thing when Nico spoke for the second time. 'I thought we were done with that discussion, Annabeth. We don't have any choice. Accept it or get out. We don't care if you rat us out to Vaas.' Everybody looked at her pleadingly, urging her to accept the decision. She had enough sense left to know that she was acting like a brat and managed to gracefully accept the decision. There was a collective sigh of relief at her decision as the tension in the air defused. Thalia said, 'So, we're done here for today, right? We contact Rachel via her email or something, give her the instructions, and arrange for her extraction from the gang. Then we'll get the info, make some solid plans, and move on. Any objections?' Everybody shook their heads. Piper asked, 'So, same time tomorrow, right here?'

Percy replied, 'Yeah, sure, by tomorrow we'll have the plans and we can meet up again right here.' Everyone got up to their feet, speaking excitedly as they discussed their plans. Percy pulled Annabeth aside and mumbled, 'So, um, you okay? Do you wanna go ahead with our plans, or do you wanna quit? If you want to, you know,-' He was cut off by a peck on the cheek. Annabeth smiled, 'Thanks, Percy, but you guys can be persuasive. I still don't think what we are doing is totally right, but it's better than what I was suggesting anyway. I'll see you tomorrow, then.' She walked out with the gang, tramping down the stairs and walking out of the house.

Percy flopped down on the bed, sighing. He smiled dopily as he looked out of the window and out at the fading summer light. Suddenly, a thought struck him like a lightning bolt. _Shit, I forgot my homework! Mom's gonna kill me! _He rushed to his old brown study table and started working as fast as he could.

~oOo~

Vaas tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the call. He reflected on how he was going to rule the whole school and beat down anybody who opposed him. There was only one obstacle left to beat down. Percy Jackson and Jason Grace's pesky gang. He was glad to have had the forethought of planting an informant in their little group just in case they tried pulling anything off. Cautiousness is everything when you want to be a master bully. He snorted as he though of the phrase. _Master bully. Hmm. . . that has possibilities as a good title. _

He jumped as his old mobile rang, startling him out of his reverie. _Finally! _He excitedly took the call as his informant explained the gang's plans in emotionless, robotic tones. His smile widened as he heard of their audacity in planning to take him down. _So. You plan to make me yield, do you, Jackson? Let's see just how you go about that when one of your so called friends betrays you. My informant will take you down piece by piece, Jackson. Your family, your friends. . . and that girl, Annabeth. She has some interesting possibilities, doesn't she? _He cackled as he cut the line.

Planning a coup de'état was going to take a lot of work.

**(A/N) So, how was it? Please review and let me know your thoughts! And could anyone please tell me if it sounds too melodramatic? I know it sounds far-fetched, but this is fanfiction after all! And, guys, try and guess who the informant for Vaas is! I bet you'll be surprised! Chill, hermanos! (A/N)**


	4. The Way of The Ninja

**(A/N) Okay, guys, I'm so sorry I haven't been updating, I have zero excuses. I'M JUST LAZY! (Also, I do have school work. Yeah, right XD) And let me just clear something up for all of you guys: Vaas is the main antagonist of the video game Far Cry 3 by Ubisoft Entertainment. **

**I pulled him into my story 'cause I think he is incredibly insane, and I wanted to experiment with his character and see what I can come up with in terms of madness. Also, Vaas does NOT belong to the PJATO or HoO universe. **

**Also, to Guest-who-reviewed-on-Nov-11: Nice guess, keep trying! It might be Nico, but I don't really like the idea of him betraying the gang. Remember how he was all bright and bubbly before the emo stuff? Well, I like to think that that bit of him is still there somewhere, just under the surface. He just doesn't seem like the traitor type.**

**And if you guys think Rick Riordan is the guy who created Vaas, then I'm a crazy lemur who looks like Channing Tatum and Shahrukh Khan rolled into one. And lemme tell you this: Vaas is bat-shit crazy. Go on and read the Far Cry 3 wiki article on Vaas to see what I mean. Go on. If you come back emotionally scarred, don't blame me. I'm not kidding. Sowwy for the long A/N, I'm gonna stop writing this NOW and go on with the story. Peace out! (A/N)**

Annabeth walked home, weary with all the arguments at Percy's place. She did not agree with their plans. And recruit Rachel? What were they thinking? And why in the world did Percy blush at her name? She would have to get a hold of Thalia and interrogate her. _Do Percy and Rachel have some sort of connection?_

She HAD to get a hold of Thalia as soon as possible.

~oOo~

Annabeth stopped to catch her breath at the entrance to the driveway. It was night-time, and she did not want to be grounded for life. She scanned the house, making sure nobody was awake. She did a double take when she saw a light on in the kitchen. _Shit! I should've come home earlier or walked faster or something. _Athena, her mom, was gonna whup her butt.

Susan Chase had earned her nickname from her former boss at her architecture company. When she had first started as an intern, her bosses had been very impressed with her. When she finally joined the company she had quickly risen through the ranks and had started heading all the best contracts and projects. Her stormy grey eyes and good looks coupled with her knowledge had led her boss to give her the nickname of Athena, after the Greek Goddess of Wisdom. After he retired, Athena had been offered the vacant position. She had gladly accepted, and was now one of the most well-known architects in the world.

She was just as determined to keep her personal life running smoothly. She tried to make sure Annabeth was disciplined and good at her studies. She didn't want her to go through the poverty she had experienced in her childhood. She was not overly strict, she was kind and not cruel. But at the same time she had to make sure Annabeth was successful in life., and that entailed some serious ground rules for Annabeth to follow.

As a result, she was terrified of showing up late. She did not want to show up late and risk getting grounded for a month. Her best option would be to sneak in and pretend that she had been in her room the whole time, and had come back from Percy's when Athena was taking a nap.

_That just might work. _

Two months ago Annabeth had watched a documentary on the Shinobi, or ninja as they were popularly called. The film had documented their history in Feudal Japan and even briefly explained a couple of Ninja stealth techniques, such as _gotonpo_, or the Art of Concealment, and _shinobi aruki_, the Art of Stealth Walking. Those techniques were now going to come in handy. The fact that she had tried practising them regularly just for fun did not hurt at all.

Annabeth had inherited all of her mother's intelligence, and now she was going to put it to use. She mentally visualised her house and examined the various methods of egress.

The front door? No go. The driveway was loaded with motion sensors that turned on at night, text alerting her mom's phone if anyone so much as tip toed to the front door. And since the door was one of those big, heavy, oak-wood kinds of door, her mother would hear her open the door using the spare key.

The side entrance? No, the door was locked and she didn't have a bobby pin to pick the lock. Plus, that entrance opened into the kitchen, and judging from the lights, her mother was probably in there at the moment.

The French windows that lead into the living room? Hell no, she couldn't pick the lock on them and since the kitchen was just across the hall, she would have to extra sneaky. Since Annabeth wasn't exactly at Sam Fisher levels of stealth, she would probably step on a squeaky floor board or something.

She couldn't get in through her bedroom window as it faced the front side of her house and there wasn't a convenient drainpipe or a tree or anything she could use to climb in. Plus, the window was always locked from the inside as Annabeth was paranoid that burglars would try and steal all her outfits and childhood stuffed toys.

Her best option would be to climb on one of the trees in the back yard and climb into the laundry room on the second floor. There were two windows in the room that faced the back of the house, and she could climb in from the oak tree just beside both of them.

Her house had a nice ventilation system that really came in handy during harsh winters. It linked all the rooms in her house and was now going to come to her rescue. She thanked her mom for insisting on installing a ventilation system while the house was being built.

There was a ventilator grate just beside the laundry basket in the laundry room. Annabeth knew for a fact that that vent led straight to her room as she could always hear the washing machine humming in the evenings while in her room. The sounds of the machine humming wereechoed and magnified in the vent, often disturbing her naps. She had tried covering the grate by pushing her old toy basket in front of it but the sound somehow slipped through anyways. The fact that it was on floor level did not change anything.

_Okay, so here's what I'll do: Skirt around to the backyard; scale the wall and climb into the back yard, tiptoe past the motion-sensitive flood lights; climb the oak tree and jump into the laundry room; enter the ventilator and finally crawl into my room. Since it's locked from the inside, I can pretend I was there the whole time. Great!_

She grinned evilly and sneaked around to the back. She eyed the back yard wall nervously, unsure whether she could scale it and jump into the garden. She finally dragged an old disused garbage can over to the wall. She stepped on top of it and jumped up. Somehow, she caught the top of the wall with her fingers. She scrambled upwards, kicking out with her knees. She hauled herself up and crouched on top of the wall.

Annabeth quickly surveyed the dark garden to make sure her mother wasn't there and dropped into the shrubbery; she inhaled the scent of the flowers and crawled through the bushes. Annabeth nearly had a heart attack when a giant cockroach scurried in front of her; she had to clamp a hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

Annabeth finally reached the end of the line of bushes and stared at the base of the oak tree. It was some ten feet away from where she sat and she would have to sprint towards it while sticking to the house to make sure she didn't set off the floodlights. She counted to three and took off running while bending low. She hugged the wall of her house and stayed in the shadows, nervous that her mother would pop out from behind the oak tree and ground her. Her stealth walking was really coming in handy.

Somehow, she reached the base of the oak tree and sat down to catch her breath, panting nervously. She looked up and saw the dense branches and leaves criss-crossed together, providing the perfect cover for anybody who climbed it. Especially since it was night-time and there was little moon light.

Annabeth carefully hauled herself up and started climbing the tree, gripping its edges and small branches tightly. She climbed up into the canopy and sat down on a thick branch. She looked around at a whole new world of insects and leaves and greenery. It was . . . peaceful, in a way.

Annabeth stood up cautiously and gripped a branch just above her as tightly as she could. She nervously shuffled sideways towards the laundry room window while using her banister of sorts. She finally reached the end of the branch and stared at the laundry room window that was some five feet away from her. She told herself not to look down at the ground. She did NOT want to feel dizzy and fall some twelve feet down and end up snapping her neck.

She shuddered, brushing aside the gruesome images and mentally steeled herself. She heard the washing machine humming loudly and sighed in relief. The sounds of the machine would mask the sounds of her entry into the room.

Annabeth glanced down at the ground and counted to three. One . . . Two . . . and-

She jumped at the count of two. She flailed wildly in mid-air and caught the edge of the window sill. She hung there for a second before thanking her gym coach for all the lessons and hauling herself up to the window. Also, the ninjas had had a couple of handy tips for this sort of thing. She slid it open and climbed into the security of her home.

Annabeth slid down on the hard wood floor and just sat down with her back to the wall and her feet spread out. She finally allowed herself to relax and exhaled quietly. It was at this moment that her phone beeped loudly, making her jump. Her nerves were frazzled by all the sneaking around, and her phone beeping was the last straw. She furiously dug it out and switched it off, praying that her mother hadn't heard her phone beep. But then again she was on the first floor; her mother was downstairs and the washing machine was humming loudly.

She sighed in relief when she realized her mother couldn't have heard the phone and got to her feet. She quietly shut the window and quickly checked the timer on the washing machine. She had only two minutes before it stopped washing clothes and stopped making the humming noise, which would make sure that her mother would hear Annabeth scrabbling around in the vents, thus ensuring her doom. She quickly scooped up the screw driver lying on top of the machine and shoved aside the laundry basket as fast as he could. The vent revealed itself behind the basket, just wide enough that she could get in and get into her room from the other end. She got down on her knees and bent low to the vent. She unscrewed the bottom two screws and lifted up the grate like a flap. _I'll have to screw 'em back on later, mom will get suspicious._

She checked the glowing timer display on the machine. _Only seventy five seconds left._ She quickly crawled into the narrow tube and got down on her stomach. She dug out her phone and switched on the in-built flashlight. The glow of the light revealed the cold grey metal she was crawling through.

Suddenly, Annabeth felt suffocated. The narrow walls of the tube were closing in on her, and she felt that she would die trapped in the vent. Once when she was six years old, Annabeth had once been locked into a small closet by one of her friends at a birthday party. She had been left there for two hours, crying quietly in the suffocating darkness. She had been found by one her mother's friends, almost unconscious and covered in dust and spiders. That day had inspired two fears in her: Spiders, and small spaces. _Focus, idiot! You can think about your claustrophobia later!_

She brushed aside her thoughts and crawled through. After what seemed like an eternity, she reached the other end. _Thirty seconds left. _She quickly unscrewed the bottom two crews and pushed the grate up. She quickly crawled into comforting darkness of her room and collapsed onto the shag carpet, heaving. She felt extremely relieved to be out of the vent. _Oh my gods, I am never crawling through another vent ever again!_

The washing machine let out a loud beep before turning itself off. _And time's up. Congratulations, Annabeth Chase! You have made it! _

She let out a mental whoop and got to her feet. She screwed the screws back in again into the grate and pushed her toy basket in front of the grate. She did not want to see it ever again. Suddenly, someone switched on the lights. She felt blinded by the glare after the darkness. She tried blinking out the spots in her eyes and focused in front of her.

Athena was standing in front of her, a grim expression on her face. She was still in her office clothes, meaning she had just come back from work. Her eyes were like twin laser beams, homing in on Annabeth and pinning her down. She slowly brought her hands together in a slow clap, her face unrelenting.

Annabeth mumbled, 'Mom, I c-can e-explain. . .'

**(A/N)And there you have it! A cliffhanger! Awesome! And let me tell you guys something: I apologize if this chapter seemed like filler content, I was just trying to flesh out Annabeth's character a bit more. Ya know, drop a few tidbits about her life and stuff? I hope you guys are not disappointed. Originally I had planned another dream sequence and this whole chapter was just a couple of hurried sentences, but I thought why not inject a little ninja-esque exciting stealthy bits in to keep you guys hooked. Also, I wanted to flesh out Annabeth. I hope you guys like it! Please read and review! Peace out! (A/N)**


	5. The Land of Sleep, Dreams and Reality

**(A/N) Hey guys, I'm alive! *waves hands* So, how's it going? Again, I apologise if I haven't been updating, but things have been kinda hectic *not really* *smiles nervously*But I've abandoned this story for too long, so here is another chapter! (A/N)**

Annabeth miserably lay in her bed, soaked in sweat and trembling. Her mother hadn't scolded her at all after discovering her daughter attempting to sneak into the house and pretend that she had not been late coming home at all. Instead, she had radiated waves of coldness and had kept her face impassive. She had muttered, "I'm disappointed in you, Annabeth." before disappearing into the gloom just outside her bedroom door.

She would have preferred it if her mother had yelled or screamed at her. Her awful coldness was ten times worse than what she had expected. Tears streaked their way through the slight layer of dust on her face as she curled into a ball and disappeared under her covers, seeking refuge in The Land of Sleep.

~oOo~

_London, England, 1858_

_Annabeth Chase walked as fast as she could, huddled and shivering in a voluminous cloak. Green grass coated with dew was crushed under her feet as she rapidly scaled the small hill with her silent companion._

_She panted, out of breath, as she let out an elated whoop and hugged her friend, a tall man similarly attired in a cloak. Green eyes twinkled at Annabeth as a she ran around in circles and savoured the fresh pre-dawn air of the countryside._

_She sat down on the ground and pulled Percy down beside her. They sat together in comfortable silence and quietly watched the sun slowly emerge from the night sky, illuminating the sky and painting it a soft shade of orange. They sighed in content._

_Annabeth mumbled, "Percy? I wish this moment could last for ever. I don't want to worry about getting married and all that tosh. I just want to stay here with you as long as I can. My mother has been getting more annoyed with me every day. I don't know what to do!"_

_In reply, Percy settled down in her lap to use it as a pillow and shut his eyes for a quick nap while mumbling something incoherent about blue pie. _

_Annabeth sighed in exasperation and suddenly got to her feet, sending Percy's head crashing to the ground. He burst out and jumped to his feet, waving wildly with his hands and yelling, "Not the monkeys! Please! Not the small blue monkeys-''He stopped and coloured a brilliant shade of red after seeing Annabeth unsuccessfully try and supress her giggles._

"_Um, about that-" Annabeth cut him off and mimed zipping her mouth shut, locking it, and throwing away the key._

_Percy visibly relaxed and let his shoulders droop for a moment. Annabeth put on the most innocent smile she could muster and squeaked loudly, "I had my fingers crossed!" Without further ado, Percy chased Annabeth down the hill, eventually tackling and falling down on her. They looked into each other's eyes, their faces literally centimetres apart._

_Percy shut his eyes and slowly leaned down towards Annabeth, his lips puckered. Annabeth shut her eyes and slightly leaned towards Percy to kiss him. When their faces were just a centimetre apart, Percy cocked an eye open and yelled into her face, "Gotcha! Now how will you escape my clutches, Miss Chase?" And he quickly turned her on her stomach and tied her hands together with a little string he had kept in his pocket. Annabeth blushed deeply on being caught out like that, and felt afraid that Percy wouldn't want to be her friend anymore after watching Annabeth trying to kiss him._

_Her fears were allayed after Percy chuckled into her ears all the way to the village and kept saying, "Wait 'til I show your trussed-up self to everybody in the village, Chase. Rachel won't let you hear the end of this for years!" He laughed loudly and clutched his stomach hard._

_Annabeth paled and pleaded with Percy to let her go. She did NOT want Rachel Elizabeth Dare to see her like this. She did not want to even see her face._

~oOo~

_Rachel Elizabeth Dare was the green-eyed, red-haired daughter of a noble who had decided to transfer his holdings from Sheffield to the outskirts of London. Ever since she had arrived a year ago, she had made Annabeth's life a living hell._

_She flirted relentlessly with Percy. While generally the village girls disliked Annabeth on account of her being a noble, they were united with her in hating Rachel's attempts to steal Percy's heart. She gave no chance whatsoever to the other girls, taking Percy all for herself._

_Even if the girls hated Rachel for trying to flirt with their sweetheart, on other matters they didn't dislike her at all. On the contrary, they actually liked talking to her on matters such as the local gossip, new clothes, flirting with so-and-so, and on and on. Annabeth couldn't see how a noble child, born and bred, could mix so easily with the locals until she found out that Rachel was just adopted and had grown up on the streets before being discovered by Lord Dare. Her innate empathy with the common man had enabled her to easily converse with anybody._

_Percy seemed to like her too, and on occasion even flirted back. Afterwards he would chuckle with Annabeth on Rachel's antics and how she seemed to be a nice person. It hurt her like hell, but she didn't show it at all. She had to be strong._

_Finally, Annabeth had tried to flirt with Percy, but he always misunderstood her attempts to flirt and thought she was teasing him, which would earn her a solid tickling for half an hour._

_Over the past year, Annabeth had held out hope that Percy liked her. When she tried flirting with other boys she thought she could see a glint in his eyes that unnerved the guy she was flirting with. For reasons unknown, most boys now refused to even acknowledge her in the presence of Percy._

_She didn't give a rat's fart about it._

_When she had asked the village girls if they could help her in the matter, all of them except for a girl called Sally had refused to help. Sally was a cheerful, seventeen year old girl with curly brown hair and warm grey eyes. She was the one person apart from Percy whom Annabeth liked a lot. They had quickly become best friends, spending all their time together, relaxing in the meadows, with the sun shining high in the sky amongst the blue skies._

_When Annabeth had asked her about Percy's behaviour, she had squealed in delight and told Annabeth that this was a definite sign that Percy was in love with her. She had been delighted, and slowly but steadily it seemed that Percy was falling in love with her. Annabeth was ecstatic._

_But there was still one major obstacle in her way apart from Rachel. Her blonde-haired, blue-eyed nightmare: Luke._

_Luke was relentless in his efforts to win Annabeth's hand in marriage. He would come finely dressed in his blue-and-white cavalry uniform every other day and accompany Annabeth and a few of her friends on picnics and hunting expeditions. He was a perfect gentleman, and always behaved with the utmost courtesy with the girls. Of course, most of Annabeth's aristocratic friends had crushes on Luke, and would always try and mess around with him. Occasionally he responded, and the girls would be delighted, only to be let down gently as Luke only had eyes for Annabeth._

_She hated his guts. _

_At first, Annabeth had been charmed by Luke, and had even responded in kind at his attempts to flirt. But soon she had begun to compare him with Percy, and had started noticing the cracks in his perfect façade. He was pale and washed out compared to Percy. While he wasn't too skinny or thin and wan, he wasn't entirely well-muscled either. On the other hand, Percy was at least six feet tall, well-muscled and was deeply tanned from hours working the fields. Luke was a creature of the indoors, a pale vampire-like creature who detested the outdoors._

_And while Percy was kind, courteous and humble with everybody, whether it was Annabeth's mother Athena or the local street urchins, Luke tended to reserve his respect for the nobility and all associated with it._

_Annabeth detested him. Luke was too fake, a washed-out cut out of a man; Percy was real, solid and dependable. He didn't cut deals with thugs in dirty and dark back rooms of places. He didn't gamble or smoke or kick any beggar who happened to be in his way. No, Percy was poles apart from Luke._

_And of course, they hated each other as well. _

_They had found out about each other in a tense encounter in the market. A few vicious remarks on Luke behalf regarding Percy's monetary status had earned him a few solid blows. If Annabeth hadn't intervened, one of the two would have been killed. While Percy was physically superior to Luke, he always carried a small revolver in his trousers._

_Annabeth had always tried to pretend the incident had never happened. It made her shudder to think how close one of them had come to death._

~oOo~

_Percy walked into the village dragging a protesting Annabeth behind him. He paid no attention to her cries and instead took her to the village square._

_Annabeth dreaded facing the other girls. They would end up teasing her for months, if not years. And she was worried Percy would join in, too, and she would be alone. But Annabeth knew that the one person who wouldn't tease her was Sally. She felt a little better thinking about her and decided to meet their teasing head-on._

_On the way, Annabeth suddenly noticed a pale, blonde guy walking rapidly towards Percy. As usual, Seaweed Brain wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings, and before Annabeth could warn him Luke had struck out with his fists, landing two solid blows delivered in rapid succession to Percy's face and chest. He staggered, letting go of Annabeth, and fell in the dust. Percy stood up, blood trickling from his mouth and with a ferocious expression on his face. _

_Even Luke hesitated on seeing his opponent's expression but decided to press on and knock out his soon-to-be fiance's kidnapper._

"_Leave Annabeth alone, or you'll have it from me!" Luke warned. Percy started to chuckle upon the realization that Luke thought he was kidnapping Annabeth, not teasing her. His smile dropped off of the face of the earth when Luke slowly pulled out a revolver, cocked it, and aimed it at Percy's face._

_Instead of freaking out as most people would have done, Percy took a deep breath and calmed himself. Time slowed down as he analysed the situation and predicted every possible outcome to his every move. _

_They were in the middle of a circle of on-lookers and were lined with rows of shops and stores on one side and fields stretching out as far as the eye could see on the other. The sun was shining directly into Luke's eyes, and his face was beaded with sweat. Percy tensed slightly as Luke waved his gun again, "Let Annabeth go, or I'll shoot you in the face. I'll do it, I tell you!" Percy's eyes narrowed. Annabeth was directly behind him, and any shot at Percy had a chance of burying itself in her._

_Just as Luke opened his mouth to speak and slightly waved his gun to the right, Percy sprinted towards Luke with incredible speed. Before he could even blink, Percy caught hold of Luke's gun arm and twisted it, making him drop it. He punched Luke in the face and kicked his shins, bringing him to his knees. He proceeded to flip Luke over his shoulder and brought him smashing into the ground. He rapidly punched him in the face, dislocated his shoulder and kicked him in the family jewels._

_Percy stood up, panting slightly. The crowd, including the village girls, Annabeth, Sally, and Rachel was looking on in awe. Somebody started to clap, and soon the whole crowd was cheering and yelling for Percy. He looked on in pride and raised his arms, whooping. Annabeth took one look at the wild look in his eyes and ran away. Percy smile died as he started to push his way through the crowd._

"_Annabeth! Annabeth, come back! Stop run-!" His voice was cut off as Rachel came from behind and grabbed him. Annabeth didn't look back as tears made their way down her face._

_As the crowd moved on from Luke's broken form, everybody missed his gang swarming out of the shadows to help him off the ground. Everybody missed him swearing bloody revenge. And everybody missed him swearing to kill the infernal Percy Jackson and stamp him off the face of the earth if it was the last thing he did._


End file.
